The new record from Chicago’s Fruit Bats is called Spelled In Bones and out in June, presumably on SubPop again. Consisting of basically the duo of Eric Johnson and Gillian Lisée (though they do have a deep pool of musical compadres to enlist help from, what with Johnson having been a member of Califone), their 2003 album Mouthfuls was unjustly overlooked – maybe because of the god-awful cover art. Come on Sub Pop, you can do better than that!

Hidden behind the boring-ass cover laid ten tracks of lovely, understated folkish-based pop songs, featuring great vocal harmonies and just a dash of electronic sonic gibbery (I just made that word up). Other applicable adjectives – warm, laid back, lush, etc. Recommended for fans of The Shins or the Elephant 6 bands, though less tripped-out. They put on a pretty good show too – I caught them in May ’03 at the B-Side. Hopefully they’ll tour through again to support the new record.

MP3: The Fruit Bats – “A Bit Of Wind”

Just when I was worried that my February concert calendar was looking a little sparse, we discover Chapel Hill’s self-proclaimed “stoner pop” practitioners The Comas are at Lee’s Palace on February 16 to promote last year’s Conductor. I’ve only heard a little of their stuff, but I like it. I will be there.

And even better than that, Bettie Serveert are touring Attagirl (out either January 25 or February 2 depending on who you ask) through Lee’s on February 10! I think this is their first time back through Toronto in years, at least since 1997’s Dust Bunnies. I know for certain they haven’t been through since they left Matador. Either way, YAY.

Somewhere Cold talks to Rachel Goswell about her musical influences and finds out that the new Mojave 3 record could be out before Summer, though with minimal creative input from her (on account of her being busy promoting Waves Are Universal).

Itty-bitty Rachael Yamagata videos here. Pity about the resolution – at least the Windows Media versions are scalable, though. From Achtung! Baby.

And another 24 post… So the scene under the bridge? Masterful. In any other situation, it would be a given that the good guy would rescue the hostage, but past seasons of 24 has already established that Jack doesn’t operate by standard good guy code and is willing to do whatever he has to for the greater good. He could very well have left Andrew to die and it would have been perfectly in character. Very nice. Also interesting was the opportunity to see Chloe do some actual acting. She almost stopped annoying me for a few minutes. Oh, and Jack knocking over a gas station for national security? I love it. I am a little concerned that they’re interjecting useless personal crisis stuff for the CTU staff – that was one of the big problems with last season, assuming that the audience actually cares about anyone but Jack, but hopefully that sort of thing will remain incidental. But overall, for the first four hours, 24 has scored a big thumbs up from me. Of course, now the hard part of only getting one hour a week begins. Gaaaahhh. Oh, and that sleeper cell kid has totally gotta shoot his mom. I mean, come on – she bumped off his girlfriend, and she was a cutie. End spoilers.

Apologies if today’s post seems a little rushed – I only started it at like 12:30 last night. Yesterday was a frazzle-riffic sort of day.

np – Spacemen 3 / Playing With Fire

Welcome back, Jack. A very canny move by Fox to broadcast 1/6th of the new season of 24 over 48 hours – it gives them a little more time to get all the pieces into place to hook the audience. So halfway through said premiere, how have they done so far? For the benefit of folks outside North America who don’t want things ruined for them before they get a chance to see it, we’ll dust off the ol’ “spoiler” tag and get into it, shall we? Highlight to read (note to those who requested the spoiler tags – read comments at your peril!):

The more things change… Even though he’s now based out of Washington, Jack is still at odds with authority of all kinds – but that’s his schtick, it’s what he does. Gonzo shoots himself out of a cannon, Jack Bauer usurps authority. He’s also taking a page from Chase’s book last season and is bumping uglies with his boss’ daughter and trying to keep it secret (though I think it’s her who’s embaressed of him this time around, right?). But to prove you CAN teach an old dog new tricks, the premiere featured some very un-Jack behaviour – ie, smiling and wearing a suit, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing too much more of that. I don’t really understand why of all the old cast members to keep, they kept Chloe, but at least they ditched the vest and she’s not acting like a total retard.

The terrorist plot, I’m not very excited about but if the writers stay true to form, they’ll cease being a factor in the show within a few weeks. Who will the realy big bad be? I don’t know, but I’m hope hope hoping it’s aliens. Jack Bauer vs aliens. Wouldn’t be more ridiculous than some of the stuff they’ve pulled out of their hats in previous storylines. As I mentioned before, they’re playing it somewhat safe thus far in putting events into motion – kidnappings, random stupid people doing stupid things, dumbass civilians, dumbass superior officers… just like the good ol’ days. And did you notice that they’ve put the CTU security officers in red shirts? Just like Star Trek – it makes them easier to shoot!

But on the whole, I found it reasonably engrossing and will certainly have the VCR set for tomorrow night (I won’t be home to watch it in real-time). I won’t give them points for originality thus far, but full marks for execution – they’re moving things along like pros. Even though we’ve seen much of this before, I understand there’s really only so many openings they can go with. It’s how they carry it out over the course of the season that really counts. I’m still pulling for aliens.

And on a meta note, did anyone find it strange to hear Keifer Sutherland using his happy voice for Ford during the commercials and using his intense voice for the show? End spoilers.

And what have we got that’s non-24 related? Not much. Johnny Dowd will be opening things up for Neko Case next Sunday at the Phoenix.

Despite promising us a new redesign and content for today, Pitchfork has failed to live up to their word. SHAME SHAME SHA– *ring ring* — oh, hang on. Hello? Oh, hi Pot. No, I’m sorry, Kettle’s not here right now. Can I take a message?

np – My Bloody Valentine / Isn’t Anything

Yes, I’m all agog about going to Austin for SXSW this year, but don’t take that as meaning I’m neglecting any of the fine fests that take are taking place on my very doorstep this year. Granted, none have the same profile, international breadth of acts or barbeque supply as Austin’s grandaddy of them all (I’ve been promised barbeque, dammit!), but they are a good time and there’s almost always some good to great shows. There’s still only limited information available for most, but here’s a brief preview.

Canadian Music Week will be taking place from March 2 to 5 this year and they’ve begun naming off the artists that have been invited to perform. While the majority of acts featured are local or Canadian (obviously), there are usually some international acts who pass through town and get their shows branded with the CMW stamp. This year, we’ll hopefully have French dance-pop act Tahiti 80 in town on one of those days, at some venue – probably Lee’s.

The 2005 edition of the wonderfully eclectic and egalitarian Over The Top Fest will be taking place May 5 to 8. While still a relatively young festival – I think this is its fourth year? – it has always done a fine job of combining a wide range of disparate local and touring acts for some interesting bills. Many of the bands play both licensed evening shows and all-ages matiness, giving everyone a chance to enjoy the shows. No schedule has been announced yet, but the kick-off party happens April 23rd at the Rockit and features Of Montreal and Better Than Everyone, plus some more acts to be named. Tickets $10, on sale soon.

It’s too early to have any details, but a couple other Summer festivals in and around town include NXNE, happening June 9 to 11, and the Hillside Festival taking place in Guelph, July 22-24. And I’m sure there are other noteworthy ones happening this Summer that I’m forgetting at the moment.

Another new festival taking place in town this year is the Ear To The Ground fest. Debuting this September 16 to 18 at the Exhibition Grounds, it’s mandate is “to showcase artists between 18 and 40 years old, who fall outside of the realm of the mainstream commercial entertainment industry” and featuring artists from many disciplines including “music, theatre, dance, film and video, fashion, visual arts, and literature”. Sounds pretty good to me. They’re holding a fundraiser show at the 360 on January 21 featuring Great Lake Swimmers, Barmitzvah Brothers, Adam Cotton and Pine Music, admission $7.

Some random notes from a walkabout around town yesterday afternoon: Flash & Crash’s new arrivals section was populated by albums by My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, Mojave 3, Sigur Ros… it was like someone had sold my entire record collection or disavowed all my musical taste in one fell swoop. Rather disconcerting. Then at Queen Video, there was this guy who was asking the clerk for any movie starring Michael Douglas. He didn’t care what, he just wanted as much Michael Douglas as possible. At first it was funny, then weird, and then just plain creepy. I shudder to think what that copy of Don’t Tell A Soul is being used for right now. And at the supermarket, they were having a two-for-$5 sale on boxes of really bad-for-you cereal. Stuff that would have prizes in the boxes if they still did that. I managed to avoid the Nestle Quik and Resse Peanut Butter Cup cereals, but I had to bring my old friend Count Chocula home for a little re-acquainting. Don’t judge me.

24! Tonight! 8pm!

np – Godspeed You Black Emperor! / Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven!

One of the top contenders for “next big thing” out of Hogtown, Magneta Lane, close out a cross-Canada tour on February 25 with a hometown show at the Drake and then again March 4 at the Horseshoe as part of CMW.

Now while the simple fact of three teenage girls playing rough-hewn rock’n’roll is bound to garner some attention, to dismiss them as a novelty for that is a great injustice. Behind their gritty, Runaways/Strokes-y sound (I apologize for the stock, unimaginitive descriptions but I don’t have a real broad frame of reference for their sound) lie some impressive pop songwriting smarts. Check out some of the melodies on “The Constant Lover”, that’s some good stuff for any age.

They released their debut EP last September and have been making some pretty serious waves hereabouts since then. The curious should turn an ear to the songs streaming off the band’s own website, their New Music Candada site or check out TTIKTDA’s post from last month about the band.

MP3: Magneta Lane – “The Constant Lover”

Brooklynvegan has an update on all things Arcade Fire, including a disavowal by the band of the Christmas EP that has the subject of much derision over the last little while (and justifiably so). On a related note, Morecowbell.net continues working on his Arcade Fire fansite here (is it open for business yet Kyle?).

This one’s for Mike from For The Records – Keren Ann and A Girl Called Eddy are at the Horseshoe for an evening of smoky, sophisticated pop on March 6, tickets $12. Check out Mike’s review of Keren Ann’s show here last month and some pics of her show in New York last night along with some general praise, courtesy of Brooklynvegan.

XFM gets James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers to give a song-by-song annotation of their latest, Lifeblood. It took a few listens, but now I’m quite enjoying the album – far more focused than Know Your Enemy, by a country mile. And a half.

Billboard reports that New Order’s new album will actually be called Waiting For The Siren’s Call, and not Sugarcane as previously reported, though that is the name of one of the tracks. It’s out March 28 in the UK and a North American release date is still to be determined.

The latest issue of Magnet has a couple bits about bands in the studio right now – Sparklehorse are holed up in Dave Fridmann’s house of fun and hope to have a new disc out for late Spring and Nada Surf will release the follow up to Let Go in June. They will be trying their damndest to not name the new album Under My Skin.

Vin Diesel wants to teach you how to break dance.

np – Neil Halstead / Sleeping On Roads

The Broken Tsunami Scene show at Lee’s Palace on January 25 sold out at Ticketmaster in under two hours yesterday, and Rotate and Soundscapes’ stocks were done by day’s end as well. Some are speculating that the show will be moved to a larger venue like the Phoenix, but the fact that the show was announced for Lee’s in the first place when they certainly knew they could have sold out a larger venue with no problems says to me that they want to keep it at a smaller, more intimate venue – but who knows. Anyway, I got mine promptly at 10AM and thankfully Ticketbastard only charged me $3 more than one of the record stores would have (though I doubt that surcharge will be donated to charity), so I don’t feel excessively ripped off – just the regular amount.

But now that the ugliness of ticket acquisition is taken care of, we can begin to speculate as to what show itself has in store – I would expect the lineup to look a lot like the BSS shows at Lee’s in June of ’03, which was essentially an Arts & Crafts love-in. That is, Stars (who are on tour in Southern Ontario that week), Jason Collett and Apostle Of Hustle. There’s nothing on Feist’s tour calendar so if she’s in town I expect she’d be there. And while they’re not Arts & Crafts rosterees, extended family members Metric are doing two Toronto shows the previous weekend and aren’t due in Ottawa till the 26th, so while I wouldn’t go so far as to predict a full Metric set, Emily and James will almost certainly be playing with the Scene. Wow, that’d be all three BSS ladies performing at the same show… oh my.

The BBC lists off their picks for bands to break out in 2005. Oh good… more angular new wave throwback dance-rock to look forward to. Via LHB.

The Austin Chronicle lists off some of the 400-500 acts that have confirmed for SXSW in March. This site won’t be becoming a SXSW blog, but you can expect that as the festival draws closer and more and more details come out, I will become positively giddy with anticipation, and you guys will just have to endure it. Sorry.

A reminder that Wilco are on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight and on PBS’ Austin City Limits with Bright Eyes this week (for Torontonians, it’s on midnight NEXT Friday, the 14th on WNED) – you can see a video sneak preview of the show here. Also, the NME reports that A Ghost Is Born will be getting re-released in some expanded form to coincinde with their UK tour starting in March. Will this be a UK-only release? What sort of extras are we talking about? Only the Shadow knows, and he’s not talking.

Alas, Chart reports that The Sadies will not be backing Neko Case at the Phoenix on January 16. Who is? Only the Sha– never mind.

np – Lush / Split